Moon Magic
by OliviaSapph
Summary: Hermione finds some new magic in her life.
1. Chapter 1

Hermione Granger of Flat 4, Goldin House was perfectly happy, thank you very much. After the Battle of Hogwarts and the downfall of Voldemort, she had visited Australia in search of Mr. Wendell and Monica Wilkins, a muggle couple who had settled outside of Melbourne and opened a dental practice. Upon finding them, she completed the necessary spells to return their memories to those of her parents. The family reunited happily after several long explanations and four pots of tea. Hermione had then spent six weeks exploring her parent's new home and assisting a local shaman in tracking and recapturing an escaped Yowie.

In the time since, Hermione had been doing freelance work in Diagon Alley. Ginny often visited her, though Ron and Harry had been brought into the Aurors within days of the Battle. They had wanted Hermione as well, but she was quite done with the bustle of killing dark wizards. She far preferred the consulting work she did now. Professor McGonagall's recommendation letter had opened doors for her that would not have been open even if she had been allowed to take her NEWTs. It was on McGonagall's recommendation, in fact, that Hermione approached the owner of Parchment and Quill Antique Literature as a Runic Translator and Acquisitions Expert. The tiny hushed store seemed to be part museum, part book store and was run by a woman named Locutia Libretto who looked, at first glance, to be made of paper. The old woman was precise, correct, and strict. She and Hermione got along quite nicely. Hermione's job required her to find and gather various rare books, scrolls, and other texts as well as to create translations of those in Ancient Runes.

It was the latter that she had fallen asleep over as the sun crept into her flat. Light flooded into the tidy studio to reveal books covering every wall of the room. A cauldron sat on the kitchen counter next to a tea pot. Crookshanks lay sprawled across the bed atop a large crocheted blanket. The largest feature of the room was a massive desk made of polished rose wood that was situated directly before the window. Books stacked upon books rose a full foot in the air and a worn copy of Spellman Syllabary was propped open against one of the stacks. Hermione herself was lying open mouthed on her arm, a quill still poised in her other hand over a sheet of paper that was full of her small, neat, cramped writing. She probably would have slept long past the rising of the sun, which was blocked from her view by the stacks of books if not for a large barn owl that landed gently on the closed window sill and rapped disapprovingly on the thick glass pane. The sharp stattico sound startled Hermione out of sleep with force.

"What?!" she gasped, "What is it?" It had not been overly long since her time on the run with Ron and Harry and the habit of fear was still with her. She jumped from the desk, brandishing her wand with speed. The barn owl rapped again, looking singularly unimpressed. She quickly assessed the situation through her half-awake state before groaning at her own stupidity and moving to open the window for the owl. It hopped into the room and dropped a copy of The Daily Prophet onto her desk before clicking its beak at her and holding out a leg that had a small leather pouch attached. The brunette opened a desk drawer full of ink, quills, a tin of badges marked S.P.E.W. and a small bag of gold, silver, and bronze coins and placed a knut into the pouch. The owl imperiously turned and fluttered out of the window as Crookshanks yawned and stretched on the bed before jumping to the floor and wandering to twine himself between Hermione's ankles. She absentmindedly scratched his head with one hand as she sat down and flipped the Prophet open on the desk. The front-page article was an interview with the new Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, about removing all Dark Arts users from the Ministry. The picture showed him standing before a new statue in the Ministry lobby that depicted a goblin, a house elf, a witch, a centaur, and a muggle man standing on a plinth. Hermione smiled when she read in the interview that the statue was called "Equal Footing". It was exactly something that Kingsley would do.

Still smiling, Hermione stood and began to get ready for the new day.


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione brushed a few strands of bushy hair out of her face, not noticing the smear of ink she left on her brow and sighed happily. This particular book had been a pleasant challenge to translate. She had needed to cross-reference six different texts of ancient runes and recreate a dialect of Welsh runes she had never seen a translation for before. This in combination with the matter of the text, a rumination on the efficacy of brewing potions containing moonstone during different phases of the moon, had required almost two weeks of her time to properly translate. Ms. Libretto would be pleased with her efforts, she was sure. Hermione flicked her wand over a blank scroll next to her rough copy and a quill began busily and neatly copying out a final version of the translation.

Less than an hour later, Hermione was slipping out of the tiny flat with the final copy of her translation and the original papyrus safely tucked into a canvas bag at her side. She marched purposefully down Section Alley, smiling at several of the neighbors before turning onto the main street. It always took her fifteen minutes to get to Parchment and Quill from her front door. She nodded politely to the goblins standing outside of Gringotts, shuddering on the inside as she did; she struggled to trust the creatures after the debacle at the bank. New shops were springing up every day. It was nice, she thought to herself, as she passed Persephone's Flowers grand opening sign.

A faint bell rang as she stepped into Parchment and Quill and she heard the customary call from the back, "Wait there!" The terse greeting once shocked her but was now endearing. Ms. Libretto spoke that way to everyone who entered her domain.

"It's me, Ma'am," chimed Hermione, taking a deep breath and smiling, "I have the latest translation."

"It's about time," snapped the papery old woman as she appeared from behind a nearby shelf. "What took you so long? Are you starting to lose your touch? Minerva never sends me ones that last long."

Hermione stopped herself from rolling her eyes.

"Look at what I've got before you decide," she said, handing the old woman the canvas bag. Not waiting for the gruff reply, Hermione walked over to the "Wanted" list on Libretto's desk to see what new acquisitions were needed. The top five books were all titles listed in ancient Greek and Macedonian. They had been there since before Hermione had come to the store. Once, Professor McGonagall had told her that they were texts from the lost library of Alexandria. Below those were listed two new entries: a book called "Bestiary Mytholgia" and a first edition of "Elemental Arithmancy". Hermione made note of both before hearing a sniff from the table behind her. She turned to find Libretto looking up at her from the translation.

"This is good," she said grudgingly, "How did you translate these Welsh runes? I haven't seen them before."

"I made my own cipher based on the Irish, Scottish, and British roots from the 10th century and 7th century Germanic runes." Libretto raised her eyebrow.

"Clever of you," she said. "Have you already got the new titles?"

"I just wrote them down," answered Hermione.

"Well then off you go," the old woman said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Your retainer is in your bag." With that, she disappeared back into the depths of the shelves. Hermione smiled and grabbed the bag, which was significantly heavier than it had been. She stepped out into the sunlight and decided to have lunch at the little café on the corner.


	3. Chapter 3

Chrissy's on the Corner was Hermione's favorite lunch haunt. It was situated on the corner of Gott's Crossing, one of the Diagon Alley side streets she had become so familiar with since settling in London. Part of her enjoyment was the phenomenal food, but a larger part was the fresh air. The owner has placed a repelling charm around the cafe's outdoor seating area that made it comfortable in all weather and the lighting was perfect almost every time of day. It was for this reason that she could be found idling over afternoon tea while she read through her acquisition list. She was absentmindedly reheating her cup when she heard someone say her name. Startled, she turned around to see Ginny walking towards her with bags in both hands.

"Ginny!" she exclaimed with a smile.

"Hermione!" Ginny laughed and crossed the remaining distance, setting her bags down next to the table to embrace her friend, "It is you! Where on earth have you been hiding?"

"I haven't been hiding," said Hermione with surprise, "I've been busy!" Ginny looked at her appraisingly, and Hermione blushed slightly.

"Mmhm" said Ginny with a raised eyebrow, "and I supposed you ending things with Ron two months ago has nothing to do with it?" Hermione's face turned a darker red.

"I- how is he?" she asked guiltily.

"He's been acting like an idiot, of course," Ginny said, said rolling her eyes, "but he will get over it." Hermione smiled, relieved that Ginny hadn't decided to hate her for breaking up with her brother. She had thought for years that she was in love with Ron, but once things had settled down after the Battle of Hogwarts, she couldn't find the spark. She felt smothered when he was near her and she had broken it off with considerable guilt.

"So?" asked Ginny. "Are you in?"

"What?" She has been letting her mind wander.

"Girls Night. Will you come tonight?"

"Oh," she was flustered that she had been caught not paying attention, "I... I don't know that I can come. My work-"

"No," said Ginny firmly, "You are supposed to say yes and ask me what time, Hermione. It's been too long since you removed your nose from your books and scrolls. Meet us at 8 o'clock tonight at the Leaky Cauldron or we will come and get you." Her expression clearly showed that she was not joking.

"I'll see you at eight then," Hermione answered quickly, to pacify her friend. Ginny smiled and picked up her bags.

It wasn't until Ginny had already disappeared that Hermione had realized that Ginny had said "us".


	4. Chapter 4

Hermione walked into the famously dingy Leaky Cauldron at eight o'clock that night exactly. She scanned the room and smiled at Tom the barkeep who grinned toothlessly back. He nodded to a back corner where Hermione saw a shock of red hair. She made her way over to Ginny and sat next to her on an empty stool, smiling as Ginny hugged her hello.

"Good," said Ginny with a glint in her eye, "I was sure we'd have to kidnap you to get you out tonight." The red head turned to Tom, who had just made his way to the table.

"Can we get a bottle of fire whisky and three glasses, Tom?" she asked with a dazzling smile. Tom nodded and headed off behind the counter.

"Who is we?" asked Hermione, "And why are we starting the night with fire whisky?"

"Ah," said Ginny sheepishly, "I, uh… well I invited-"

"Oh here you are," said a familiarly distant voice behind them, "I am glad that you invited me out Ginny." Hermione glared daggers at Ginny who turned slightly pink before turning to smile at Luna Lovegood.

"Hi Hermione," Luna said, "I haven't seen you in ages." She smiled in her vague way and sat down on the other side of Ginny. Hermione liked Luna. She couldn't not like her after everything they had done together in their years at Hogwarts and at the battle, but Luna had a habit of speaking uncomfortable truths and an even worse habit of believing in the unbelievable regardless of any evidence to the contrary, which was a nightmare for Hermione.

"Don't worry, Luna, no one has," said Ginny with an unrepentant smile. Tom returned and put a slightly dusty bottle of fire whisky and three empty glasses on the table with a clink.

"Could I please have a gilly water?" asked Luna with a tranquil smile. Tom grunted and began his journey back to the bar. Ginny poured them each a shot of fire whisky and slid a glass in front of each of the other women.

"Thank you, Ginny," said Luna, taking hers in her hand. "Did you know that fire whisky is made using phoenix blood? Only they don't want people knowing because the Ministry is using it to reanimate heliopaths." Hermione sighed, bit her tongue on all the things that were wrong with that statement, and downed the fire whisky in her glass in one gulp, feeling it burn its way to her stomach. She was already calculating how quickly she could excuse herself without hurting Ginny's feelings. She glanced at Ginny, who seemed to be reading her mind and shook her head once. No way out. Hermione sighed again and slid her glass back to Ginny for a refill. It was going to be a long night.

She frowned at her empty glass and looked across the table, surprised to find that the room wavered when she moved her head too fast. Looking across at Ginny, she found the source of it. Two completely empty bottles of fire whisky sat on the table, and the red head was in the middle of pouring the remnants of a third into Hermione's glass.

Once they had begun drinking, Hermione had begun to enjoy herself. Ginny had regaled them with stories of training with the Holy Head Harpies. While Hermione was not much of a fan of quiddich, she had almost fallen off her stool laughing at a particularly funny story of how one of Ginny's teammates had been confunded before a practice and had tried to use a rival team's mascot fire crab as the quaffle. Surprisingly, Luna had also had a comical story about how her father had accidentally conjured three bull hippopotami into his studio flat when he had first left Hogwarts and had ended up keeping one of them in a fish bowl for several months before he was ordered to return it to the London Zoo by the Ministry. Hermione had laughed so hard that she cried when Luna described the scene in which a member of Magical Law Enforcement had tried to pick up the bowl and found that it weighed the same as the hippo.

"This is fun," she said suddenly, surprising herself. Ginny rolled her eyes in response.

"Of course. Why did you think I had been trying to get you to come out before this?"

"To try to convince me to get back with Ron," Hermione said without thinking. She gasped and put her hands to her mouth, looking guiltily at Ginny.

"Hermione," said Ginny with a raised eyebrow, "I am not trying to coerce you into a relationship with my brother. While nothing would make me happier than having you as my sister-in-law, I never expected you and Ron to make it."

"What do you mean?" Hermione sputtered in response.

"I like Ronald," Luna said seemingly randomly, "but he is a bit too much of a terrier." Hermione, whose head had begun spinning slightly, decided together not to ask.

"I mean," said Ginny, eyeing Luna, "that Ron is a bit of an idiot and that while I love him, you two have very little in common. On that basis alone, I never expected you two to make it for long." Hermione thought about protesting but didn't have the heart for it.

"You're right," she sighed, swaying. Luna eyed her.

"And you are drunk."

Hermione smiled blearily, "You are right too Luna. And I'm glad you came out with us tonight."

"Me too," said Ginny cheerfully. Luna smiled again. Hermione remembered thinking that it was a pretty smile before she lost track of the evening


End file.
